The present invention generally relates to systems and methods for human and computer interaction utilizing gaze direction information, and in particular, to systems and methods for use in relation to graphical user interfaces, games or other human computer interaction intensive applications.
Interactions between users and computers comprise many forms and have evolved heavily over the years. Typical interactions are based upon mechanical type inputs by the user, to the computer. For example a user typically drives a computer through the use of a keyboard and mouse. The keyboard and mouse rely heavily upon a user's fine motor skills and reflexes. Taking a modern computer game as an example, success may depend on the ability to quickly and accurately move a mouse in response to actions shown upon a screen. A user's skill at the game is therefore dictated by their level of coordination.
Recently, new input modalities have gained popularity. For example touch and gesture based input devices are now in somewhat popular use. A touch based input device relies on a user physically contacting a surface, normally a display, in order to interact with a computer. A gesture based input device relies on a user performing a gesture with a body part, for example waving or swiping in mid-air with a hand. This gesture is captured by an optical system of some form comprising a camera and light source.
All traditional input modalities share a common problem, they rely on a user's ability to accurately direct a body part to a particular point of interest on a computer display. This introduces the possibility of error between a user's intended point of interest on the display, and the actual point of interest provided to the computer via the traditional input modality.
A true representation of a user's point of interest may be obtained by tracking the direction of the user's gaze. Gaze or eye tracking technology is not new, many examples are provided in the market such as those sold by Tobii Technology (www.tobii.com) and described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,572,008.
Utilizing gaze direction information for simple interactions with a computer has also been previously described, one such example is U.S. Pat. No. 6,204,828 which describes a system for moving a cursor on a display in response to a user's gaze direction.
Previous input systems using gaze directions have been focused on basic input techniques, where a manual input method is replaced by a gaze component. There exists a problem of how to fully utilize the benefits of gaze direction information in human computer interaction, such that the gaze direction information does not just replace a portion of a mechanical input method but complements and enhances the ability of a user to interact with a computer.